Leucadendron xanthoconus male or pollen cones

The brightly coloured involucral leaves of Leucadendron xanthoconus, the ones just below the stem-tip cones, are long and narrow. They are twisted at the base and yellow. Brownish involucral bracts, pointed and erect, are also present, only around the base of each cone.

This bush is male, its pollen cones busy ripening. Some of the tiny yellow florets in picture have opened already. The cones become roughly 1 cm long (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005).